Super Robot Wars OG: The Inspector – 09

After witnessing Mao Industries on the moon get taken over by the Inspectors, the focus shifts to Tesla Reich Institute where they’re in the process of doing the same. There the forces led by Vigaji are interested in taking over the research facility and stealing the latest Earth Federation prototypes, forcing the pilots of the Project TD team to escape with them. Coming in to lend a hand is none other than Trombe. More specifically, Rai’s older brother Elzam V. Branstein (Inada Tetsu) bursts onto the scene in his Guarbein Mk. III Trombe, under the not-so-secretive alias Rätsel Feinschmecker, i.e. “The Mysterious Gourmet” in reference to his cooking skills. To fans of the series — myself included — the biggest change of course is that Rätsel’s unit has been changed to some sort of hybrid between his Guarlion Custom Trombe and Huckebein Mk. III Trombe, further reiterating that we probably won’t be seeing any Huckebein’s with V-fin antennas in this adaptation.

However, what didn’t change were his use of gravity-based weaponry, which he used to drive back Vigaji in his Galgau to allow the transport shuttles to escape with Kuzuha’s Grungust Type-3, Ibis’ soon-to-be Astelion, and the Fairlions that will be deployed next time. During all that, what came as a surprise were the jokes amidst the flurry of action as the “Trombe!” theme played in the background. I really wasn’t expecting the comedy to kick in during battle, but I did get a good chuckle when Vigaji thought his translator was broken for interpreting Elzam’s alias as its German meaning, and when he broke the fourth wall out of frustration. Funny stuff indeed.

The other big arrival this episode was of course Masaki in his Cybuster going head-to-head against Aguija in her Silverwind. The only thing that felt kind of missing for his dramatic entrance was his traditional “Neppu! Shippu! Cybuster” theme, which was replaced by his Original Generation “La Gias no Kaze” one. It makes perfect sense in the context of this OG anime, but for someone coming from the classic games, The Elemental Lord of Wind’s theme will forever be the one that it’s been since Banpresto introduced Cybuster as their first original mecha. In terms of seeing his mech’s abilities in action, it would’ve been cool to see his cats Shiro and Kuro use the funnel-like High Familiar or Masaki bust out the Cosmo Nova right away, but the Akashic Buster we got instead wasn’t too shabby. I’m actually a bit surprised that a Rest Djemila coming in between was enough save Aguija from a Cybird coming at her at ramming speed though.

In any case, the real highlight of this episode should have been Ibis being chosen to pilot the Alpha Proto, i.e. the Astelion mentioned above, and successfully executing a Maneuver RaMVs attack. As Ibis is clearly less talented pilot (at least for now), it’s naturally a big snub to Sleigh to learn that her brother picked Ibis over her to pilot the new unit. This leads to Sleigh parting ways from the rest of the group that’s rendezvousing with the Hiryuu Custom, while Ibis gains some renewed confidence in herself from the prerecorded message that Filio left for her. It’s probably safe to assume that subplot will resurface before long, though the upcoming task of retaking Riksent is much more appealing since the Hiryuu Custom has met up with the Hagane and most of our protagonists have assembled for a single cause. It’s like when two separate battleships and their respective crews finally meet up in the game, which tends to be a big event of sorts much like it was made out to be here.

I like how they make use of all the character’s themes. Ratsel’s famous “Trombe” played throughout the first battle. Divine also forgot to mention Ibis’ “Shooting Star, Cut through the Night” when she used the Astelion

If they didn’t play “Neppu! Shippu! Cybuster” this episode, I’m predicting that they must be saving it for something epic.

The bug works like this, in OG1 during the Divine Crusader wars, Elzam was with the bad guys, so in the game he’s a boss. Bosses have priority for their themes over the players unit: this means when you attack a boss, it will always be that boss music playing. But then around the end of the game, Elzam joins you. The thing is Banpresto forgot to remove his boss priority. So when he joins you he has boss priority AND normal player priority for his theme, which then overrides any other themes, even the final bonus boss ‘s theme. They kept the bug in every other game Elzam/Ratsel appears as a running joke.

Oh please, get over it already. Both the Exbein and the Guarbein Trombe are awesome enough on their own. I don’t get why fans are throwing a conniption over a Gundam knockout. It’s just one robot, there are plenty of of awesome Real and Super robots already in this show.

I practically cheered out loud as soon as I heard the oh-so-memetic “Trombe” this episode. And since “Trombe” is usually a prelude to Elza…err…Ratsel kicking ass and taking names, the ensuing ass-kicking (technically a defensive action, but yeah) was just awesome.

I was kinda expecting him to complete the “I am Rätsel Feinschmecker, no more, no less” line though. Then again, with the brouhaha about the Huckebein, I guess they didn’t want to step on Sunrise’s toes and make Ratsel’s similarities with Char…err…Quattro any more obvious.

And Masaki must have been lost (as usual) when he stumbled into that battle… (Wonder what’s up with Shu Shirakawa though?)

The only thing we need now is the “Sword That Cleaves Evil” and we’re all set. (“Real men ride each other,” anyone?)

La Gias no kaze was Masaki’s theme back when he piloted Jaohm, his first masouki, this song and Neppu Shippu are both in Original Generation, and his default theme is NeppuShippu too in OG, like in the classic timeline. You can choose which one to use in the options in the OG games. I’m sure it’s more likely they’re keeping Neppu!Shippu!!Cybuster for another time. Because if they put it + fuckin awesome TTTTRRROOMBEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!(fan-vocal version is last) in the same episode all TVs broadcasting the episode would have exploded from the awesomeness.

To those who are complaining about the lack of Huckebein, here’s the reason why (supposedly):
*deep breath*
Bandai, Banpresto’s parent company, has declared that the V-Fin design seen on 98% of Gundams is an exclusive copyright to the Gundam franchise. Therefore, nobody can use V-Fins without permission from Bandai (or something along those lines). Now, what makes this very strange is that this declaration apparently extends to Bandai’s own subsidiary companies like Banpresto, hence why Divine Wars had no Huckebeins at all and The Inspector has the Exbein and Guarbein. In Banpresto’s case, the games can get away with it (as the Huckebeins are a tribute to the Gundams, IIRC), but any animated TV/OVA adaptations of SRW cannot, for reasons not fully explained.

In short, since Bandai is making a fuss over a very very tiny detail, we cannot have Huckebeins in any animated adaptation. In my personal opinion, the Exbein and Guarbein are beautiful expressions of “F**k you!” in mecha form to this declaration.

I regret watching this anime. I’m now like WTF!. Too many POINTLESS characters are appearing EVERY episode. Just when I thought this anime was getting interesting, The makers of this anime decided to slap me with a load of bull… I dont usually watch animes with a lame english title because I already know its lame and not age appropriate(if u know what i mean), but the other anime with a lame English Translated Title (Legend Of Legendary Heroes) proved me wrong so I decided to watch this. it turns out to be a kid anime to me…a lame kid show

Yeah, GARbein MkIII Trombe was a pretty shameless expy. I mean, for all intents and purposes, it’s Huckebein MkIII Trombe wearing a Guarlion hat and shoulderpads.
Something even Vigagi picked up on (BTW, I LOL’d at Vigagi pushing Al…uh. RÄTSEL’s cut-in screen away with his actual hand…Breaking the Fourth Wall FTW)
Personally, I think the Exbein is cooler, but I love the GARbein too.

Also, I like Aguija quite a bit. Of the Inspectors, she’s by far my favorite. All in all, this episode is even more densely packed with AWESOME than the last two were: In Ep7, we got KYUUUUKYOKU! GESPENSTOOOOO! KIIICK!!!!!, which was made of so much win it nearly broke my headphones. Then in Ep8 we got the series’s first not-Huck, the Exbein, docking with the AM Gunner while still docked with the Boxer Frame. Both scenes being EPIC AWESOME WIN moments. And then in this episode, we get TROMBE!!!! AND we get Cybuster and a beautfully-animated AKASHIC BUSTAAA!!! Also, Ibis actually manages to kick some ass in the Astelion.(Though her Calion was pretty pathetically shot down)

Now I can’t wait for this weekend’s episode. We get to see the Lolibots…Royal Heartbreaker FTW.

Just to explain, not that I expect trolls etc. to care, but for players of certain older SRW games, the Huckebein mecha were the gods of “realistic” robots in the hands of original characters one might see as the “player character.” In other words, this was your chance to out-Amuro Amuro, to out-Char Char, and so on. Regardless of the V-fin, the gravity technology and mix of weapons made them joys to use… and as far as SRW Alpha was concerned, the one the player started with got really, really upgraded enroute to the end of the game, first to the Mk. III form, then to the Boxer/ Gunner add-on forms (you had to pick one but you could swap between missions). Boxer was like an ultra-agile super robot that hit like a colossus, and Gunner was like a spare GP-03, a hybrid mobile armor that mainly added extra agility, mobility, and an ultra long range, high power, boss killing weapon.

In other words, the reason old-time fans have fond memories of that particular mecha is not because they were “Gundams,” but that they made the player feel on par or better than with the classic anime Gundams, with a punch to them that felt special.

We’ll see later in the series as chronologically later (in real life) real robot superstars come onto the stage in the OG games. But for those not familiar that would be spoiling, so oh well.

On one hand, I’m a bit disappointed that the Huckbeins didn’t show up; on the other hand, I do like the GARbein Trombe’s design, and can appreciate the joke; just like Ratsel’s paper thin disguise, this is a paper thin disguise for the Huckbein Mk III Trombe.

Besides, since the Huckbeins didn’t show in Divine Wars, using them now’d be a bit odd.

While there’s been a fair bit of changes to the story I quite like the series – I like it better than Divine Wars. I’m also glad that Sleigh’s defection to the Neo DC and her enmity with Ibis has been sidestepped; maybe Elz- I mean, Ratsel, and Zengar will be able to get some sense into her…

Generally, so far the show has done a good job of compressing the game and still making sense, as well as the requisite Crowning Moments of Awesome.

But lol at Aguija being hotblooded.

This episode illustrates the adage “For want of a nail, the battle was lost.” in OG2, Ibis and Sleigh aren’t shot down and escort the transports away. As a result, Sleigh discovers Alpha Proto in Ibis colors, and throws a hissy fit, culminating in shooting down Ibis’ Calion and defecting to Neo DC. Here Ibis is shot down at TLI, and is picked up in the transport; while Kusuha fusses over her, Sleigh hangs around, meaning that she never discovers the Astelion. Also, when she launches, Sleigh doesn’t launch solo and fly away, stewing angrily; here she’s focusing on survival and protecting the transports, and when she starts sinking into depression, Ratsel offers for her to come along.

As for the Huckbeins, I can understand Bandai’s stance. The Gundam design is a trademark of Bandai; while the Huckbein isn’t a problem to us, because we understand it’s an homage, the problem is that if it gets out into the open more, Bandai runs the risk of diluting the Gundam trademark, similar to how Aspirin and Band-Aid used to be trademarks but have now become generic terms for headache medication and… well, band-aids. As such, that’s why Bandai issued their directive – it’s to protect their trademarks.

Since Bandai is corporate HQ, Banpresto and the anime team must thus follow the directives from on high. Doesn’t mean, however, that they can’t have fun with said directives…